Sunday, November 03, 2013

Becoming a Saint

In just seven months Pope Francis has already
canonized hundreds of new saints. These include Antonio Primaldo and eight
hundred and twelve unnamed companions also known as the Martyrs of Otranto who died in 1480 either because they refused to
convert to Islam or because they put up a fierce resistance against the
advancing Ottoman army. As you might expect after five hundred years the exact
details are a little vague. Another large group the Pope canonized was 512
martyrs of the Spanish Civil War, who were killed during the Red Terror in
Spain at a time when about 50,000 people were killed by left wing
revolutionaries.[1] It certainly gives the impression that to be a
saint one has to die in horrible circumstances –preferably war!

But of course these good people
were not canonized because of the way they died but because of the faith and
hope that they, their stories and their relics inspire in other Christians. It
is said that the bodies of the Martyrs of Otranto were found a year later
uncorrupted –in other words they hadn’t decayed – and that many miracles are
associated with them.

Today as we celebrate All Saints
Day, we are looking backwards and forwards. We look backwards as we remember
the people who have gone before and who have made us the people we are today.
We are remembering those whose lives have inspired faith and hope in us even
though they may have died in quite normal ways. At the same time we are thinking
about our own inheritance in the reign of God.

When the word Saint is used in the
Bible it refers not to great heroes but to anyone who is enrolled in the reign
of God – those we today would call Christians. It was only later that first
martyrs and then others who had lived exemplary lives began to be revered and
given the title Saint.

To be a saint is to live a saintly life and
all of us who are followers of Christ are called to holiness of life. Just as
people have made lists of Saints, so people have made lists of things to do or
not do in order to be live a holy life. In our Gospel reading we heard in the
words of Jesus the key themes of Christian living. “Love your enemies,
do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who
abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from
anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to
everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for
them again.” And then finally, “Do to others as you would have them do to
you." That last line, “Do to others as you would have them do to
you." Sometimes called the golden rule is not unique in Jesus’ teaching –
it can be found in many religions of the world.

But Jesus is unique in his call for us to love our enemies, to return hatred
with love, cursing with blessing and not to resist evil with evil. This gospel passage
has often been seen as a call for submissive, passive behavior but increasingly
Bible scholars are interpreting it as a call to non-violent resistance. Bible scholar
Walter Wink explained:

By turning the
cheek, the servant makes it impossible for the master to use the backhand: his
nose is in the way… The left cheek now offers a perfect target for a blow with
the right fist; but only equals fought with fists, as we know from Jewish
sources, and the last thing the master wishes to do is to establish this
underling’s equality. This act of defiance renders the master incapable of
asserting his dominance in this relationship … By turning the cheek, then, the
“inferior” is saying, “I’m a human being, just like you. I refuse to be
humiliated any longer. I am your equal. I won’t take it anymore.”[2]

So perhaps it’s fitting that hundreds of the
new saints who have been canonized by the Roman church this year died in times
of war, resisting those who were attacking them. Our non-violent resistance must
be of a different nature. We are called to create a world in which the
underlying response of violence simply becomes outdated.

A political scientist, Glenn Paige, has had an
extraordinary impact with his concept of nonkilling, He describes a
"nonkilling world" as one without killing, threats to kill, or
conditions conducive to killing – and one in which there is no dependence on
killing or the threat of killing to produce change.[3] Paige has encouraged
scholars to question the "assumption that killing is an inescapable part
of the human condition and must be accepted in theory and practice."In the Congo his ideas have been
taught in villages and reduced the level of violence in the area. His book has
been translated into five languages.

For us his
ideas should be nothing new. Jesus himself declined to fight his captors. He
declined to use supernatural powers or earthly powers to defend himself. His resurrection
is the ultimate proof that violence does not achieve its intended ends.

Returning
again to the gospel reading. It seems to me that in the first section, most of the
“blessed” and the “woes” are a statement of the constant changes of our lives. "Blessed are you
who are hungry now,

for you will be filled.”
then"Woe
to you who are full now, for you will be hungry.” Even for those of us who live
in prosperity there are cycles in life, cycles of the good times and cycles of
the not-so-good times. But the last woe is a challenge for us, "Woe to you when all speak well of you, for
that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.”

I know I want people to speak well of me. I want
to live a quiet life. But at what cost? Am I failing to resist violence because
it’s easier and takes less effort? I’m grateful that we don’t live in a
community where violence is frequent and obvious, but we live in a nation that
considers violence necessary and normal. We live in one of the few western
countries that still has the death penalty. We live in a country where gun
violence is escalating and the loudest voices call for more guns.

In 1981 the singer Holly Near sang, “Why do we
kill people who are killing people to show that killing people is wrong? – what
a foolish notion.” It’s still a foolish notion more than thirty years later.
And it is up to us, the saints of God to step up to our calling as saints and
to think of new creative, non-violent ways to resist the violence in our
culture; violence against women, violence against children; violence against
gays, lesbians and trans* people; violence against anyone who is different.

It starts in our minds. TheUNESCO Charter declaration of 1945, states that
"since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the
defenses of peace must be constructed."[4]
It begins in our minds but if it goes no further then we are not living up to
our calling. We have to start to take action to change the underlying mindset
which says that violence and killing are the answer, and to change the social
circumstances that lead to violence.

Last week Victoria Fischer spoke to us about
the work of the Episcopal Development Fund. I urge you to consider making a
donation to their work as one way of building peace, by helping other Anglicans
around the world reach into the broken places of the communities they serve.
There are some brochures and envelopes on the ushers table or you can simply
put ERD on your check and put it in the offering plate.

One way we can work for non-killing is by
providing funds for other saints who are on the frontlines. But we must also
commit to working in our own community and country to challenge violence and
the assumption of violence wherever we find it.

For the work of the saint is to be the bringer
and builder of healing and peace.

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St Benedicts Episcopal Church is a welcoming faith community in Los Osos, California. For over 20 years we have been witnessing to God's all-inclusive love. In this bl;og we share sermons and other ideas in the hope that this will inspire conversation and new thinking about the God who has called us and who is faithful.